EDITOR WES RAYNAL: This is a cool car in terms of it being the quintessential boulevard cruiser, but as a sports sedan, not so much. It can't really keep up with the Audi S6s and Mercedes-Benz AMG E-classes of the world, but it's a hell of a lot cheaper than the Germans. But for cruising and profiling, the Dodge is about perfect, and if you need to get away quickly it will do that, too.

I thought body roll in corners was commendably low and the ride was mostly good, just the slightest bit choppy on rough pavement.

The interior was plenty roomy and the materials were mostly OK.

ASSOCIATE EDITOR JONATHAN WONG: There's a simple satisfaction that comes with a night in a big RWD sedan packing a honking V8 under the hood. The instant thrust available to you at the stomp of your right foot accompanied by a throaty exhaust note is intoxicating. You can't help but lay into the gas from every stoplight and on every portion of empty road.

As Raynal said, this isn't a sports sedan in the mold of the Audi S6 or the Mercedes E-class AMG, but it's still charming in its own way. The Charger is an absolute ripper in a straight line and is respectable in the corners, too. Unlike the Challenger, body roll is well tamed and steering is decently responsive.

The Brembo brakes put the clamps down with authority to stop the heavy heap quickly with a firm pedal feel.

For sure, the Charger and its Chrysler 300C cousin are getting long in tooth, but in SRT8 guise, it's hard to find much fault with them. For the amount of power you get at a price that comes in well under the four-door German hot rods on the market, the SRT8s are a steal.

COPY EDITOR CYNTHIA L. OROSCO: I never tire of having a chance to drive the Charger. Since my first go-round, I have loved this car. It's big and hulky and is a pleasure to drive. That growl is music to my ears, and I love the power available as soon as your foot touches the pedal. Whether it was down the expressway or over crumbling streets, the Charger stayed composed and offered comfy transport. The brakes do a solid job of slowing your flight, the driver's position is great and the materials are of good quality. Yes, there are a lot of hard plastics, but they fit this car.

MOTORSPORTS EDITOR MAC MORRISON: Hopping into the Charger SRT8 just more than a week after driving its Challenger sibling, my Challenger analysis rang ever more true: I wish that car had this one's suspension setup. The Charger is simply tighter all around, and it doesn't provide the soft, floaty reactions of the Challenger's. That said, the Charger is most definitely not a harsh, overly sprung or damped machine, so I have a hard time imagining many Challenger customers complaining much, if at all, about the ride if indeed it had a slightly more aggressive tune.

The Charger, though? It still holds its own fairly well, even about four years after its launch. At least it does so when you drive it. The car does look a bit dated in terms of styling, though I never favored its lines much in the first place. The SRT trim goes some way toward giving it a menacing appearance, especially when you look at lesser Chargers.

Regardless, this whole lineup of LX-platform cars--the 300C SRT, the Charger SRT and the Challenger SRT--remains fun to drive, if not matching the best Europe has to offer. As Wong noted, however, the price point here is a world apart from those and represents a bigger gap in buyers' bank accounts than it does in the cars' relative abilities.

Here's a question: Has the SRT “skunkworks” crew responsible for these cars been retained at the new Chrysler? Does the SRT division even exist anymore? Those guys did good work; they “got it,” so to speak. Does this Charger, along with the other two related cars, represent the last of that team's Chrysler-sanctioned enthusiasm? I expect Gritzinger might have the answer.

SENIOR EDITOR FOR NEWS BOB GRITZINGER: Not sure I can answer the SRT future question--actually, I'm not sure anyone at Chrysler or Fiat can either, at this point. But I think we all agree that these big, honking V8-powered monsters are spot on when it comes to muscle-car performance. Will this Charger outcorner an E63 AMG? Doubt it. Will it handle like an S6? No way. But for the money, it's hard to argue with the car's overall abilities and straight-line acceleration and braking--especially when compared with the muscle-car death traps from the heyday.

Though I thought this particular SRT seemed to feel and drive larger than anything else I've driven from the breed, it's still fairly tied down and seriously impressive when you mash the right pedal. The sounds of summer, baby, are right there for the taking. Gotta love it.